United Arab Emirates
With abundant desert landscapes, the UAE's golf courses thrive, blending water features and hybrid grass for impeccable fairways. According to the Emirates Golf Federation, there are twenty-one golf clubs in the UAE's sheikhdom, and the number is slowly growing. The majority of clubs gravitate to Dubai and Abu Dhabi but there are also clubs in Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah. As most people know, the best golf courses were in Dubai, and the cream of the crop for many years was the Majlis course at The Emirates Club, home to the renowned Dubai Desert Classic. But new on the scene are two Dubai courses from Greg Norman at Jumeirah Golf Estates, called Fire and Earth. However, the new Kyle Phillips and Gary Player creations of Yas Links and Saadiyat Beach have combined with the National course to elevate the capital, Abu Dhabi, to a level that perhaps even exceeds Dubai. Our Middle East rankings were last updated in March 2021.
Yas Links Golf Course
United Arab Emirates
Yas Links Golf Course
Extending to 7,450 yards, Yas Links was over three years in construction and it lies across the highway from the Yas Marina car racing circuit with eight of the holes located right against the coastline.
Trump International Golf Club Dubai
United Arab Emirates
Trump International Golf Club Dubai
Trump International Golf Club Dubai is a Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner co-design which debuted in early 2017, becoming the first new 18-hole course to open in Dubai for seven years.
Dubai Hills Golf Club
United Arab Emirates
Dubai Hills Golf Club
The Dubai Hills Estate is set within the Mohammad Bin Rashid City quarter of Dubai and it’s a development from the Emaar property company, which includes the Burj Khalifa building in its portfolio...
Saadiyat Beach Golf Club
United Arab Emirates
Saadiyat Beach Golf Club
Opened in March 2010, the Gary Player-designed course at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club is billed as the Persian Gulf’s first ocean course.
Jumeirah Golf Estates (Earth)
United Arab Emirates
Jumeirah Golf Estates (Earth)
The Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates was the first course to have been built specifically for a championship and then unveiled as the first tee shot was hit at that championship.
The Els Club - Dubai
United Arab Emirates
The Els Club - Dubai
The Els Club was the first completed venue within a multi billion dollar development at Dubai’s Sports City that now includes the world’s first purpose-built Manchester United Soccer School facility...
Emirates Golf Club (Majlis)
United Arab Emirates
Emirates Golf Club (Majlis)
The Majlis course at the Emirates Golf Club opened for play in 1988 and it was the first 18-hole grass golf course to open in the Middle East.
Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club
United Arab Emirates
Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club
The Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht club grabbed considerable world-wide attention on opening in 1993 when golf in the Middle Eastern desert was in its infancy.
Al Zorah Golf Club
United Arab Emirates
Al Zorah Golf Club
Unveiled at the end of 2015, the 18-hole layout at Al Zorah Golf Club was the first golf course to open for play in the United Arab Emirates for more than six years.
Jumeirah Golf Estates (Fire)
United Arab Emirates
Jumeirah Golf Estates (Fire)
Although only open since January 2010, the Fire layout – another Greg Norman creation at the Jumeirah Golf Estates – is more of a links-like track than its sibling the Earth course.